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About Me

Hello friends and fellow foodies! I am Alla, the wife of an incredible man and a stay-at-home mom to precious baby Leah. This past year I have realized that I really enjoy baking. Just recently I have also realized that I enjoy cooking when it comes to trying new recipes. Being a stay-at-home mom has given me this opportunity. The reason that I finally decded to go along and start a blog is because I was inspired by so many other good food blogs. Some of the best were those that had many pictures with instructions and simple ingredients. This is what I will try to do here, although I am no photographer. My greatest inspirations were The Pioneer Woman, Bakerella and Farida from AZ Cookbook. I also enjoy trying out Ina Garten's recipes from her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook series. I hope that my blog will inspire you and your cooking.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

But now that I am back... and have one and half weeks of summer vacation (between summer classes and fall semester starting) I am taking the advantage to bring you something yummy. I am not a huge fan of cookies. I am more of a cake kinda girl. But these, these are different. They are so moist and they just taste more like tea cakes than a cookie. If you like lemon, these are especially delicious. The interesting fact is that these have an entire container of ricotta cheese in them. Who would have ever thought??? I don't know about you, but I like them. So doesn't my mother-in-law, which you know is always good. :) Make them, and bring some to your mother-in-law, she will love you too.

On a side note, we got a spanking new camera along with a super-duper lens. I absolutely positively love shooting photos with it. I have also started editing some photos. All the photos before were unedited. I feel like it brings out the true color and texture of the food. Therefore, this blog-post has taken me much longer. Please don't just sit there... but tell me what you think, or I might just take a "fall break" too. :)

Here they are..... Lemon-Ricotta Cheese Cookies........

Adapted from Food Network

You will need:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.4. In the meantime, let your toddler mix around your flour mixture......... and grate up the zest of one lemon.5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated.6. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Your batter will look curdy.... don't worry about it.7. Stir in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.8. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. I got about 30 cookies.9. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.10. Now you can optionally make the glaze to pour on top of the cookies or simply dust the top with powdered sugar if your not into glaze. To make the glaze you need the zest and juice of one lemon, plus 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Just mix it all together.11. And pour about 1/2 teaspoon on each one letting it drip to the sides. I like to put the parchment paper I used to bake the cookies on underneath, that way whatever drips off can be on the paper that I can just toss.You also need to let the glaze harden a bit before serving. Enjoy.